More debating achievements

The Swannie Award is given to the top-ranked debater based on their individual speaker scores. Given that each grade comprises hundreds of students across dozens of teams, it is a huge honour to be the recipient of one of these awards. With the shift to online debating, the geographic division between regions was removed, making the Tuesday region one of the most hotly contested, with schools from as far afield as Geelong Grammar, Melbourne High, Xavier, Mount Scopus and Firbank all competing in the same division. Congratulations to Anjali on an outstanding achievement!

Junior British Parliamentary Debating Grand Finalists

Three weeks ago our Middle School debating team competed in the Debaters Association of Victoria Junior British Parliamentary State Tournament. In a great result, one of our Year 7 teams – Olivia Woodhouse, Prisha Rewal and Jade Holcombe – finished in the top four teams, which means they will be competing in the State Grand Final. 

While this is a much smaller competition than the Schools Competition, it is still an outstanding result from our Year 7s, as this was not only their first time competing in British Parliamentary debating, but also their first ranked debating competition and their first time having to prepare with secret topics.

They were given some extremely challenging topics to prepare without being able to research beforehand, ranging from implementing an inheritance tax to arguing over the dangers of the automation of the Australian economy, winning two of their debates outright and placing well in the remainder.

Extra congratulations go to Olivia Woodhouse, who was the top speaker in the tournament with the highest individual speaker scores. 

Please congratulate the students and wish them well as they go on to compete in the Grand Final against Haileybury, Keysborough, Haileybury City and Mentone Girls Grammar in November. 

DAV Junior Secondary Program Debaters

Over the past several weeks, five teams of  Year 7 and 8 Huntingtower students competed in the DAV Junior Secondary Program. For most students this was their first ever time debating, and for all of them it was their first time debating online. 

The season put up a wealth of new challenges, from figuring out how to communicate and continue debates when storms caused power and internet connections to drop out, to intrusions by pets and managing rebuttal with people in different suburbs. However, they all did an outstanding job, demonstrating perseverance, independence and great communications skills as they debated about student strikes, participation awards and the urban-rural divide. 

Congratulations to one of our Year 7 teams - Jade Holcombe, Sophie Lai, Keira Ling, Prisha Rewal and Olivia Woodhouse – who made it to the end of the competition winning all of their debates: one of just five teams to do so! 

Thank you to Daniel Liang and Abhay Bolisetty (Year 8) for the following reflection on their time debating in the JSP this year:

'Though 2020 has had more than its fair share of unforeseen events, we have retained a sense of normality through the continuation of the annual JSP debating competition. Held online, students in groups of three-to-five participated in three different online debates. However, unlike previous years, participants were given the option plan rebuttals as a group. Consequently, all team members were able to input their ideas into a counter argument, thus not only strengthening the point but also promoting a sense of synergy. Though there were countless positive memories throughout the competition,  the most memorable were definitely the ones spent after the debate, consoling a loss or celebrating a victory.

Debating online had its fair share of ups and downs, but all in all it has been amazing. As we prepare for each debate, socialising with our friends is a huge benefit which comes out of it and it is much needed, as being in lockdown means not seeing friends. Debating became another way to be with your friends and have some fun, as well as enjoying the competition. There have been so many memories but for us as a team, arguing about our speeches was always a highlight. We highly recommend debating for all of you as it is one of the best experiences of your childhood. We loved it!'

Matthew McDonaldHead of English